Holly is a symbol of goodwill and joy. In the Victorian language of flowers, holly means foresight. Holly is seen as a symbol of good luck in both Christianity and Islam. But most importantly for me, it is said that disputes are often solved "under the holly tree"

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Friday, January 5, 2007

CHRONOLOGY OF ISRAELI ATTACKS ON LEBANON AND A VIDEO EYE WITNESS ACCOUNT

Chronology of Israeli attacks, raids & invasions of Lebanon

As Arab Media Watch intern Elizabeth Saleh shows, the 2006 invasion of Lebanon is just the latest in a series of Israeli aggressions against the country going back almost 60 years.

· The emergence of the state of Israel 1947-1949: Lebanon took part in armed conflict against Israel to halt its continued capture of Palestinian Arab land. Lebanese forces did not enter territory allocated to the Jewish state by the 1947 UN partition plan, remaining instead in the Upper Galilee (granted to the Arab entity which, by the time Arab states intervened on its behalf, was already mostly conquered by Israel).

· The mass exodus of Palestinians during this period is known as Al Naqba (The Catastrophe). Approximately 100,000 Palestinian refugees fled or were expelled to Lebanon at this time. They now number up to 400,000.

· Operation Hiram, 21-31 October 1948: Four Israeli brigades enter Lebanon, moving up to the Litani River and killing at least 90 people in the village of Hula. Some were forced to remain in buildings that were to be demolished.

· The signing of an armistice agreement between Israel and Lebanon occurs on 23 March 1949 at Ras En Naqura, on condition that Israel pulls out from the 14 Lebanese villages it is occupying.

1960s-1970s

· Although Lebanon does not participate in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, Israel attacks the village of Hula, killing five women.

· November 1967: Following a three-month siege, Israeli forces destroy the Lebanese village of Hanin, killing the inhabitants. There are no surviving witnesses.

· Israeli attacks into southern Lebanon make certain areas uninhabitable, destroying Muslim, Christian and Druze villages. 80% of the villages in southern Lebanon during the 1960s and 1970s are destroyed. Many of the displaced move into the crowded Beirut suburbs.

· 1975-1977: Israel gives over $150 million worth of arms to Christian forces[i] fighting in the Lebanese civil war.

Operation Litani

· 14 March 1978: Israel carries out Operation Litani, which lasts seven days. The total number of casualties is unknown.

· 250,000 Lebanese are displaced, many moving to the southern suburbs of Beirut, which become known as the "misery belt" (including the Palestinian refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila).

· The Lebanese Army barracks at Khiam are taken over by Israeli forces and given to their allies, the South Lebanon Army.

· 15 March 1978: Israeli forces attack homes and factories in the Awazi area near Beirut, killing 36 civilians.

· 15 March 1978: An Israeli warplane attacks a mosque in the southern village of Abbasiya, killing 40 people and wounding over 100.

· 17 March 1978: Israeli commandos at the shore of Adlun kill 20 members of the Tawil family.

· An Israeli economic blockade results in an influx of Israeli goods and the end of production in southern Lebanon, further crippling the country's economy.

· US President Jimmy Carter is critical of Israel, saying: "I consider this major invasion to be an overreaction…" and "a serious threat to the peace in the region[ii]."

· 19 March 1978: The US ambassador to the UN proposes that a UN force replace Israeli forces in southern Lebanon. Security Council resolution 425 states that Israel should cease all military actions and "withdraw forthwith its forces from all Lebanese territory."

· The UN Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) are established to provide more initiative for the withdrawal of Israeli forces.

· Israel establishes a 10-kilometre occupation zone approximately three months after the start of Operation Litani.

· Israeli military advisers and arms flow into east Beirut, supporting the Christian Phalangist Lebanese Forces who are engaged in military clashes with the Syrian army.

· 21 October 1979: Israeli forces attack the Khamis market of the southern village of Bint Jubayl, killing 23 people.

· 19 July 1981: Israel bombed areas of Beirut, killing 100 people, 30 of them militants. Over 600 people were injured. PLO retaliation led to further Israeli attacks, forcing once more the flight of people from southern Lebanon.

Operation Peace for Galilee

· On 31 June 1981, under Menachem Begin's government, Ariel Sharon joins the Israeli cabinet as defence minister. His main aim is the full-scale invasion of Lebanon: "Quiet on the West Bank requires the destruction of the PLO in Lebanon."[iii] Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir says: 'The defence of the West Bank starts in West Beirut."[iv]

· 11 April 1982: The proposal for the full-scale invasion of Lebanon is put to the Knesset (parliament). Five ministers oppose this operation. Begin decides to delay the invasion.

· Israeli raids and attacks against Lebanon continue.

· Lebanese President Elias Sarkis appeals for intervention from the US and USSR[v].

· Israeli forces continue to strengthen and widen its occupation in southern Lebanon, building secondary roads, gun emplacements, command bunkers and radar stations, and conducting military exercises, including training in urban warfare at Khiam.

· 21 April 1982: An Israeli artillery officer is killed in southern Lebanon.

· Israel conducts air raids into Lebanon.

· 9 May 1982: The PLO counter-attacks with artillery as a warning to Israel, not hitting any villages or civilians.

· 10 May 1982: A meeting of the Israeli cabinet indicates that a majority is for the full-scale invasion of Lebanon. Seven ministers oppose the invasion.

· 17 May 1982: The date set for the invasion. A day before the operation is due to start, Begin calls it off due to pressure from the seven ministers against the invasion.

· Israeli air attacks continue, sending at least 60 aircraft, including US-made F15s and F16s to bomb three targets in southern Lebanon. Two of the targets belong to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command. The other is the Lebanese Arab Army base near the town of Mazub, 17 miles from Beirut. Bombing also occurs in the region of Khalde[vii].

· 3 June 1982: Members of the Palestinian Abu Nidal group shoot and injure the Israeli ambassador to London. Although the group is considered a sworn enemy of the PLO, this event becomes the raison d'etre for the Israeli invasion of Lebanon.

· 4 June 1982: At 3.15 pm, the Israeli Air Force carries out strikes in Lebanon. Nine sites are hit in central Beirut, including Sports City and the Family Beach. Another seven sites are hit in southern Beirut. Over 50 sites in southern Lebanon are hit.

· Israeli forces sweep through Lebanon, while UN Security Council resolutions 508 and 509 call for the unconditional withdrawal of Israeli troops.

· 9 June 1982: The Israeli Air Force attacks Syrian SAM batteries in the Bekaa Valley.

· Ground engagement between the Israeli and Syrian armies occurs in Jezzin and Ein Zhalata. This ends two days later on 11 June with Israel in control of Jezzin and progressing towards the Shouf, Baabda and the outskirts of Beirut.

· 14 September 1982: Following the assassination of Bashir Gemayel by the Syrian Socialist Nationalist Party, Sharon orders Israeli forces into West Beirut and allows the Christian Phalangist Lebanese Forces (allies of Israel) to enter the Palestinian refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila.

· 16 September 1982: Massacres occur at Sabra and Shatila for 48 hours, with night flares by Israeli forces guiding the Phalangists, resulting in the deaths of up to 2,000 Palestinian and Lebanese refugees.

· 17 May 1983: An agreement between Israel and the Lebanese government aims to end the war. It stipulates that Israeli and Lebanese territory will not be used as a base for hostile activity against the other party, and prohibits the deployment in their territories and airspaces of any forces hostile to the other partner. Israel is required to withdraw completely from Lebanon, but Israel incorporates a pledge from the US stipulating that the withdrawal will be conditional to the withdrawal of Syria and the PLO. This in effect makes the agreement de facto.

· February 1983: Israel's Kahan Commission report finds Sharon partly responsible for the Sabra and Shatila massacres. He is forced to resign.

· 16 October 1983: An Israeli military convoy drives through the Ashura process in Nabatieyeh. This is a holy day for Shia Muslims and commemorates the martyrdom of Husyan ibn Ali at the battle of Karbala (circ AD 600). Barriers are put up by worshippers to impede the convoy. The desecration by the convoy escalates to violence as Israeli reinforcements are called in. Two Lebanese civilians are killed and 15 injured.

· 1984: Israeli forces attack the village of Suhmur, killing 13 people and wounding 12.

· 23 February 1985: Israeli forces attack the village of Sir-al Gharbiyah, killing civilians who had taken shelter in a church.

· 4 March 1985: Israeli forces attack the village of Marakah. At least 15 people are killed and 45 wounded.

· 11 March 1985: At least 109 Israeli military vehicles storm the town of Zra'iyah, killing 22 civilians.

· 18 April 1996: A home in Nabatiyeh is destroyed by the Israeli Air Force, killing nine civilians including a mother, her six children and a new-born baby.

· 18 April 1996: Israel launches a missile attack at the UN headquarters in the village of Qana. Civilians from Qana and surrounding villages are sheltering inside the hangars, which are hit. 107 people are killed, including 33 children.

· October 1998: Amnesty International sends a letter to the Israeli government about the welfare of Sulieman Hassan Ramadan, detained by Israel and the South Lebanese Army since 1985 and thought to be in Khiam Detention Centre.

· July 1998 - January 1999: A UN Interim Report for this period shows a 70% increase in Israeli missiles, artillery and mortars fired in southern Lebanon.

· 3 November 1998: Israeli air raid on Shaqra.

· 12 November 1998: Israeli air raid on Zibqin.

· 17 November 1998: Israeli air raid on Brashit.

· 18 November 1998: Israeli air raid on Yatar.

· 27 November 1998: Israeli air raid on Rishknaniyah.

· 3 December 1998: Israeli air raid on Talet Huqban.

· 7 December 1998: Israeli fire kills one civilian in At Tiri.

· 13 January 1998: Israeli air raid on Zibqin.

· July 1998 - January 1999: 58 Israeli air raids occur north of the Litani River.

Operation Accountability

· 20 June 1999: Israeli air raids kill civilians in Yatar and Qabrikha.

· 24 June 1999: The Israeli Air Force attacks targets in Baalbek, power stations in Sidon and Beirut, five bridges along the coastal road between Sidon and Beirut, and a telephone relay station near the capital. Ten civilians are killed and 50 wounded.